Awake Your Soul
by ToThinkIsToLive
Summary: What if Remus told Dumbledore about Sirius, James, and Peter being animagi? How would that change history? WARNING: SLASH
1. Chapter 1

The night life changed forever Sirius knew instantly nothing was ever going to be the same. It all started when he went to Peter's house to check on him as they had arranged. When there was no answer at the door he knew something was seriously wrong and his first thought was that he had to get to the Potter's house; he knew in his mind that Peter wasn't in danger but the Potters were and he was instantly both scared and angry.

When he arrived at the Potter's house and found both James and Lily dead and little Harry in Hagrid's arms his anger exploded. When Hagrid refused to allow him to take Harry Sirius knew what he had to do so he left Hagrid his bike and left to find Peter.

The next morning Remus woke up to Sirius's laughing face on the front cover of the Profit confirming his deepest fears; Sirius Black was the spy. Remus knew instantly what he had to do. Sirius was the love of his life, but no one knew that Sirius was an Animagus and he might try to use that to excape. He wrote Dumbledore immediately.

2 Months Later

Remus was surprised when he answered the door and found Dumbledore standing on the other side. For the last 2 months Remus hadn't had any contact with the wizarding world. He was working in a muggle bookstore, he shopped at muggle stores and he didn't answer and owls that he received. After the first month the owls stopped coming and he figured that would be the end of it. Now he was facing a very grave looking Dumbledore. "Professor Dumbledore, please come in. Can I get you something to drink? Some tea maybe?" Remus asked as he moved out of the way and gestured Albus Dumbledore towards the kitchen.

"No thank you Remus, and I've told you it's Albus now, you're no longer a school boy. I'm afraid I have some rather distressing news to share with you," Dumbledore said ask he settled himself into a chair in the small kitchen.

"What is it? Did something happen to Harry?"

"No, nothing is wrong with Harry, he's safe at his Aunt and Uncle's house right now. I'm afraid this news is about a very grevious mistake I've made. It's in regards to Sirius." Remus blanched, all color leaving his face at the name of his former lover. "Since you've told me about the Animagus abilities James, Peter and Sirius all gained while in school I've been thinking about what happened on Halloween. I've come to believe that we don't know the whole story about what happened between Peter and Sirius. I find it hard to believe that any spell would leave just a perfectly severed finger and nothing else."

"You… don't believe Sirius killed Peter? Then what… where… what happened to Peter?"

"I'm not sure, but I did talk with Sirius the day after his arrival at Azkaban and now what he was saying is a bit more believable. He was claiming that Peter was the Secret Keeper and the spy. At the time I didn't believe what he was telling me, but now I fear we've made a very serious mistake."

"Are you saying that Sirius is innocent?" Remus was horrified at the news. If this were true then it meant that Sirius had spent the last two months in Azkaban innocent and alone; he was suffering needlessly. "What are we going to do?"

"I have arranged to speak with Sirius this afternoon, this time under the affect Veritaserum. I am here not only to inform you of my suspicions but also to invite you to join me. I know that Veritaserum can be unreliable and won't be enough to prove Sirius's innocence but I am hopeful that it will let me know whether or not he is innocent and give me a way to prove it."

"Of course I want to come, either way I want hear straight from his mouth what happened that night. Even if he is guilty, I want to know why." Remus was worried that it would be proven that Sirius was guilty without a doubt and he would have to listen to the man he loved say how everything they had was a lie. At least now he could pretend that at one time Sirius had loved him.

"Well in that case we must be on our way, we don't want to keep the Minister of Magic waiting now do we?" Remus stared at Dumbledore in shock. "Oh yes, Minister Bagnold will be there, she was shocked to learn that there was a man in Azkaban that never stood trial and may possibly be innocent. She is anxious to get this matter settled and refused to allow anyone other than herself to take care of it. Now, we must be going, we're flooing to the Ministry first then making our way to Azkaban as a group." With that Dumbledore moved over to the fire place and disappeared, Remus close behind him.


	2. Chapter 2

It took over an hour to get to Azkaban. The prison was in a zone that couldn't be Apparated into or out of. For this reason they had to Apparate into a designated area and then walk to the edge of the sea. After the walk they had to take a small boat from the shore to the island where the prison was located. When they finally arrived the Minister of Magic led them through the twisting corridors, after sending off the Dementors, until they reached a small room. The room seemed a little less damp and dark then the corridor outside, the feeling of absolute despair given off by the Dementors also seemed to lessen greatly. Dumbledore must have noticed the look of confusion and relief on Remus's face and explained the room, "This room is warded off from the effects of the Dementors so that it's a bit more bearable. It makes it possible to question prisoners without having to suffer or take them from the prison. The room allows just enough of the influence of the Dementors though to keep the prisoners under control, but keeps enough out so those who haven't already been completely ensnared by the Dementors to keep their minds."

After that the door opened again, the two Aurors who had accompanied them to the island came in leading a dirty, scrawny looking human. The figure had dark hair that was matted with dirt and grime; he was wearing torn, threadbare prison robes that didn't look warm enough for the bitterly cold of the prison. His face was gaunt and pale, and his eyes were dull and unfocused. The two Aurors pushed him into a chair that instantly bound the prisoner. Remus almost didn't believe the figure in the chair was once his bright and brilliant lover. It was almost inconceivable, and if he was actually innocent, it was a horrifying thought. Even more horrifying was the thought that this was only two months into a life sentence; what would he look like in 12 years, or in 30. He felt his stomach turn at the thought. He was then snapped back to the present by Minister Bagnold's voice.

"Sirius Black, it has come to my attention that you were sentenced to life in Azkaban without a trial. Professor Dumbledore is the one who brought this to my attention when he came to me with concerns about your actual guilt. Now you are to be questioned while under the influence of Veritaserum, I'm going to give you the option to take it willingly, if you refuse you will be forced."

Sirius just stared blankly at the people in front, and for a moment Remus was almost sure that Sirius was going to refuse, but then his eyes seemed to focus and he seemed to realize what was being said to him. It took another moment and then Sirius answered, "I'll take it," his voice was little more than a croak, but he sounded almost relieved.

Minister Bagnold handed the vial of Veritaserum to one of the Aurors who administered three drops to Sirius's open mouth. Almost immediately Sirius's eyes glassed over and took on a vacant look signaling that the Veritaserum was working. Once that happened the questioning by Dumbledore began, the whole conversation being recorded by a Self-Writing Quill. "What is your name?"

"Sirius Orion Black."

"What is your age?"

"Twenty-two."

"What form do you take during an Animagus transformation?"

"A black dog."

Dumbledore was then relatively convinced that the Veritaserum was working, because Sirius didn't even seemed concerned that he just admitted that he was and illegal Animagus. "On the night of October 31st, 1981 did you betray the Potters to Lord Voldemort?" Both Remus and the Minister twitched slightly at the name.

"No." Remus tensed at the one word.

"Where you the Potters' Secret Keeper?"

"No." With that one work Remus felt the bottom drop out of his stomach. He had been wrong.

"Who was?"

"Peter Pettigrew."

"On the night of October 31st, 1981 did you cause the explosion that killed Peter Pettigrew along with a dozen muggles?"

"No."

"Do you have any way to prove these claims?"

"Yes, in the Potter vault they left a letter explaining the last minute decision to change Secret Keepers. Peter betrayed the Potters and then killed those muggles before transforming into a rat and escaping."

The room was silent, all three visitors shocked. Remus felt like he was going to be sick at any moment, he was wrong about Sirius and because of this distrust his love had suffered for the last two months.

Minister Bagnold looked horrified and stood immediately. "I want someone to get to get to the Potter's vault immediately to find this letter."

"How? We don't have the key and Harry is just a baby, so he can't access the vault," the Auror said uncomfortably.

"Actually that won't be a problem, I'm in possession of the key; I have control of the Potter account until Harry turning 11. I have the key here," Dumbledore said, reaching into his robes pulling out a ring of keys. He flipped though them for a moment and then removed one from it handing it over to the Minister.

"I believe I should take care of this myself. I will be back as soon as possible; until then I don't want Mr. Black sent back to his cell. He is to stay here with the four of you until my return; you may also administer the antidote to the Veritaserum," Minister Bagnold said before quickly leaving the room.

The next hour and a half was spent in awkward silence. Remus felt ill at the thought that Sirius was innocent; that Peter was the traitor and he was still free while Sirius sat behind bars suffering greatly. The look on Sirius's face made Remus feel even worse; Sirius's face kept going back and forth between looking devastated and a simple blank stare. It was extremely unnerving to Remus to see. Finally Minister Bagnold returned with a stack of papers in her hand and a mildly horrified look on her face.

"It would appear that Mr. Black was telling the truth," she said as she sat down in her chair. "I have here a letter written by the Potters and witnessed by their lawyer. At first I couldn't understand why he hadn't stepped forward in the first place to tell someone about it but apparently he didn't even know what it said, he just witnessed them writing it and then they placed a concealment charm on it before having him sign it as well. Then it was sealed and placed in the vault."

She handed a piece of parchment over to Dumbledore who read it and then passed it on to Remus. The letter was short but proved that Sirius was innocent.

"To whoever finds this letter,

If you are reading this letter then the worst has happened. We are dead and there are probably questions regarding our deaths. Sirius was not the Secret Keeper. We switched to Peter after Sirius asked us to; he though no one would suspect Peter and so our secret would be safer longer. We're writing this letter just to ensure Sirius's safety should the worst happen; since it's being read now it's clear that it has. We are also writing this letter to share our final wishes. Harry is to be taken care of by Sirius; we made him godfather knowing that he would step in if the time ever came and raise Harry as we would. In regards to our estate a third is to be given to our good friend Remus Lupin. The other two thirds are to go to Harry. Sirius is to be given access to Harry's account until Harry reaches his majority. We leave nothing to Peter because if this is being read chances are that he betrayed us. Sirius, don't blame yourself, we agreed to this and no one would have ever thought it was Peter, even now as we write this letter we can't even believe it could be possible, but we have to be sure our little boy is taken care of if we're wrong. Raise Harry to be an amazing wizard and an even better man. Remus, we all know how Sirius can be sometimes; take care of him and Harry. Thank you for being the best friends we could ever ask for.

Love,

Lily and James Potter"

Remus felt his heart stop and his eyes fill with tears. Sirius was innocent. "What now? How long until he gets out of his hell hole? He's innocent; you can't leave him here another moment!" Remus felt near hysteria. Just the thought of Sirius spending another moment in this place made his blood run cold.

"I have here with me a full pardon from his crimes. I have already informed the news papers and the autors of Sirius's innocence and of Mr. Pettigrew's guilt. Right now I have every man I can spare looking for Peter Pettigrew. In addition; in a few weeks there will be a hearing to decide on an amount to be awarded to Sirius for his wrongful imprisonment. I'm horrified that something like this happened, and deeply sorry."

"I'm free?" Sirius croaked out from the corner, disbelief on his face. "This isn't a dream."

"No it's not Mr. Black, you are truly free," Minister Bagnold replied. It took a moment for the words to register in Sirius's mind, but when they did a small smile came onto his face. It was nothing like the smiles from a few months ago but Remus promised himself that he would fix that, if Sirius would let him that is.

A/N: I had these first two chapters written, more will be written as I have time. The more reviews I get the quicker I'll feel like I need to update.


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